The San Francisco 49ers were short on wide receivers last season after moving on from Deebo Samuel and having Brandon Aiyuk leave the team without much communication, but things will get worse in a week with Jauan Jennings, Kendrick Bourne, Skyy Moore and Trent Taylor hitting the market.
With that knowledge, San Francisco needs to be proactive and sign at least one of the top option on the market, and interestingly, they’ve been connected to the top guy, as the MMQB’s Albert Breer listed the 49ers as suitors for Alec Pierce earlier this week.
“My expectation is that Pierce’s name would be a hot one on the market, and I’d expect him to pull down a deal in excess of $25 million per year, and maybe close to $30 million per, if he doesn’t get tagged. The receiver tag, for what it’s worth, is $27.298 million and the transition tag is $23.852 million,” Breer wrote.
“Indy’s trying to do a deal with Pierce. But Pierce has been resolute that he won’t do a deal until he knows who his quarterback is, which could put him on the highway to free agency, with suitors such as the 49ers, Bills, Patriots, Raiders and Giants potentially out there.”
Pierce, 25, played collegiately at Cincinnati from 2018-21, where he earned All-AAC honors once before the Indianapolis Colts took him in the second round (No. 53 overall) of the 2022 NFL draft.
Over the last four years, Pierce has appeared in 64 games and has caught 157 passes for 2,934 yards and 17 touchdowns. He’s also led the league in yards per reception each of the last two seasons (22.3 in 2024 and 21.3 in 2025).
Pierce has had solid production in Indianapolis despite the fact that their quarterback situation has been less than ideal with Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones, Gardner Minshew, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Sam Ehlinger, Philip Rivers, Nick Foles and Riley Leonard all lining up under center for at least one game for the Colts during his tenure.
Brock Purdy would be an upgrade over any of those quarterbacks at the point in their careers that they played for with Pierce.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: 49ers identified as suitors for top WR in free agency
Reporting by Mike Masala, Niners Wire / Niners Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
